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The Arsenal of Freedom (episode)
On a planet famous for its munitions industry, the crew of the Enterprise is threatened by a deadly automatic weapons system. Summary Arriving at Minos in the Lorenze Cluster to investigate the disappearance of the [[USS Drake|USS Drake]], the ''Enterprise''-D enters orbit. Discovering no lifesigns on the planet's surface, they are surprised by a hail from a Peddler, which is actually an automated message from the Erselrope Wars. Commander Riker, Tasha Yar and Data transport down to the planet's surface to investigate. Tasha finds a piece of melted tritanium and Data finds a high-tech hand-held weapon in a ruined structure. Riker comments on the finds, and mentions that they are beyond current Federation technology. Suddenly, Captain Paul Rice, the commanding officer of the USS Drake, appears from behind the bushes and engages Riker in conversation. Back on the Enterprise, they confirm that there are still no other lifeforms other than the away team, but there is an energy build-up close to the Commander. Captain Rice asks Riker about the abilities of the Enterprise, which raises suspicions in Riker's mind, and soon realises that he's not speaking to the real Captain Rice. Rather than give away any information, Riker gives Rice false information about the [[USS Lollipop|USS Lollipop]] rather than the Enterprise. Riker then reveals to the fake Captain that he knows he's fake, and he is quickly replaced by a weapon device. Before the away team can respond, the weapon fires on Riker, encasing him in a bubble of energy. Tasha quickly fires back, and destroys the weapon. Data and Tasha examine the bubble holding Riker in stasis, and contact the Captain to tell him that Riker has been trapped by a force field. Unable to transport Riker to the ship, the Captain and Doctor Crusher transport down to the planet's surface to help, leaving Geordi La Forge in charge on the bridge. On the planet's surface, Picard and the others theorize about the reason why the weapon put Riker in stasis rather than kill him. Data is instructed to try and use his phaser to cut away the bubble, but just as he starts, the Enterprise hails the away team, informing them that another energy reading has appeared, and that it's moving towards them. Tasha takes up position next to Data, and the second weapon arrives, knocking Doctor Crusher over. The Captain goes to help her, as the weapon begins firing. Suddenly, the ground under the Captain and the Doctor gives way, and they both fall down into an underground cavern. Picard lands well, but the Doctor is almost buried in loose sand and rocks. Meanwhile, Data and Tasha battle with the second weapon, discovering that it has learned and adapted from its previous encounter, and is now evasive and much more difficult to destroy. However, the combined effort of the two is enough to destroy it. Finally noticing the disappearance of the Captain and the Doctor, Tasha and Data try and contact them with their communicators, but they're no longer working. Tasha decides to go off and try and find them, leaving Data with the still immobile Riker. Back in the cavern, Beverly is nearly unconscious, with a broken arm and heavy bleeding. Picard also discovers that their communicators are malfunctioning. Tasha returns to Data, after failing to find the Captain, and discovers that Data has figured out the precise setting to use to dissolve the bubble around Riker. He fires his phaser, and Riker is released, almost unharmed. On the bridge of the Enterprise, La Forge receives a report that they can now beam up the entire away team, but suddenly the deflector shields raise automatically, as one of the weapons starts firing at the ship from almost point-blank range. The blast rocks the ship, but the shields hold. Just before their weapons can target the device and destroy it, it vanishes from the sensors, appearing moments later behind the ship, and firing again. Realizing that the ship won't be able to stand up to this much punishment indefinitely, and that the away team can't be beamed up with the shields up, La Forge is left to ponder his options. Chief Engineer Logan arrives on the bridge, and, hearing La Forge's plan of staying in orbit to try and rescue the away team, he demands that La Forge relinquish his command to him, a higher-ranking officer. However, La Forge is more interested in trying to destroy the weapon, so he ignores Logan, and tells Worf to compute the predicted attack path of the weapon, firing in the dark. Logan continues to interfere, and Geordi sends him back to Engineering. Back on the planet, a thrid weapon has been released, and this time it's equipped with its own deflector shield. Data comments that the weapon continues to upgrade itself after every encounter. But, still, now with the combined fire-power of three phasers, they just about manage to destroy the weapon. Data tells Riker that the weapons appear every 12 minutes, which gives them all the incentive they need to be off the planet by that time. In the cavern, Picard continues to make sure Beverly doesn't fall unconscious. He then discovers that she's got another, more serious, wound on her leg, which is bleeding heavily. The Captain manages to stop the bleeding, but Beverly is still in shock, and he tries to do his best for her. Back on the ship, La Forge and the bridge crew are just about ready for their first test shot. The phasers and photons are fired simultaneously, but they miss totally. This is re-enforced by the weapon firing on the shields once again. As La Forge sits back in his chair, disappointed, the weapon fires again, further damaging the shields. Everyone on the bridge is now looking to him for orders, as the weapon fires once more. La Forge then calls for Logan to come to the bridge. As soon as he arrives, La Forge calls for the Enterprise to go to warp and leave the orbit of the planet, surprising everyone on the bridge. La Forge then orders Lieutenant Logan to take command of the saucer section of the Enterprise, ensuring the safety of the majority of the crew, while Geordi takes the stardrive section back to the planet. When La Forge and the bridge crew have relocated to the battle bridge, the ship separates, leaving the saucer section behind. Meanwhile back in the cavern, Picard uncovers an alien viewscreen. A holographic projection of the same salesman as they'd seen before appears and begins reciting his speech about the weapon system. The Captain realises that it was the Minosians's own weapon system that destroyed their civilisation. The peddler then continues his speech and declares that the final weapon device is about to be launched. Commander Riker and the others locate the hole the Captain and the Doctor fell down, but there is no way for them to reach each other. Then Data states that he can safely jump down the 11 meter drop without damage. This surprises everyone, but without hesitation, the android officer jumps down the hole, and easily survives the impact. Riker and Tasha take up defensive positions in an attempt to prepare for the final weapon. As the star-drive section of the Enterprise returns to Minos, La Forge tries to give the two young officers (Solis and Lian T'Su) some encouragement. Back in the cavern, the final weapon is launched, and Data attempts to reprogram the targetting settings. Finding no alternate targets for the weapon to lock onto, however, Data draws a blank. Beverly suggests that they simply turn the machine off. The idea is so simple, Picard hadn't even considered it. He demands to the Peddler that the machine is turned off, and, after agreeing to buy the weapon system, the Peddler agrees. The effect is instant - the display screen goes blank, the final weapon deactivates, and the dampning field blocking communications is released. However, things are not so good on the Enterprise. The weapon system is still functional in orbit of the planet, and is chasing the ship. Geordi orders the ship into the planet's atmosphere, where the atmospheric interaction with the weapon's cloak will reveal its prescence. As the Enterprise descends, the shields begin to fail, but, just in time, Solis detects a disturbance to starboard. Worf instantly locks phasers on the weapon and destroys it easily. Celebrating their victory, the bridge-crew quickly return the Enterprise to standard orbit. The away team is transported back to the ship, and Geordi is told to remain in command until the saucer section is re-attached. Memorable quotes "Tell me about your ship, Riker. It's the Enterprise, isn't it?" "No, the name of my ship is the 'Lollipop'." "I have no knowledge of that ship." "It's just been commissioned. It's a good ship." :- Riker discussing his ship with Rice's hologram. Background information * Paul Rice was named in honor of Gene Roddenberry's plans to have a character named "Rice" in every show that he created. * Saucer separation was created completely by using stock footage from TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint". * Footage of Jonathan Frakes (William T. Riker) from the scene with Rice was later used in the series finale "All Good Things..." so he could appear younger and beardless. * While not mentioned in the episode, the show's technical advisors later wrote that the Drake was intended to be ''Wambundu''-class. *The Minosians are very similar to the Magratheans from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Links and References Guest Stars *Vincent Schiavelli as Minosian peddler *Marco Rodriguez as Paul Rice *Vyto Ruginis as Logan *Julia Nickson as Lian T'Su *George de la Pena as Orfil Solis References Arvada III; Arvada system; battle bridge; docking latch; ''Drake'', USS; Echo Papa 607; Erselrope Wars; Howard, Felisa; Howard, Isabel; Howard, Paul; light cruiser; ''Lollipop'', USS; Lorenze Cluster; Minos; Minosian; Minosians; planetary defense system; saucer separation; Starbase 103; tritanium Timeline *2364 Arsenal of Freedom, The de:Die Waffenhändler es:The Arsenal of Freedom nl:The Arsenal of Freedom